US8194081B2 - Animation of audio ink - Google Patents

Abstract

In a pen-based computing system, a microphone on the smart pen device records audio to produce audio data and a gesture capture system on the smart pen device records writing gestures to produce writing gesture data. Both the audio data and the writing gesture data include a time component. The audio data and writing gesture data are combined or synchronized according to their time components to create audio ink data. The audio ink data can be uploaded to a computer system attached to the smart pen device and displayed to a user through a user interface. The user makes a selection in the user interface to play the audio ink data, and the audio ink data is played back by animated the captured writing gestures and playing the recorded audio in synchronization.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/940,667, filed May 29, 2007, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to pen-based computing systems, and more particularly to synchronizing recorded writing and audio.

When trying to absorb a large amount of information delivered orally and possibly visually, such as in a business meeting or classroom setting, people commonly take notes. A good set of notes can be used to review the information presented in a meeting and to refresh the note taker's memory. People often study from their notes, such as notes taken in a classroom. However, once disembodied from the oral presentation in which they were taken, even good notes lose much of their meaning because the context for the notes has been lost.

For this reason, people often record a presentation as well as take notes, and some systems automate this by pairing a recording while a user takes notes. But without a good interface to review the notes while playing back the audio, the additional context that the audio provides the notes has minimal benefit. For example, existing playback methods that merely provide line by line playback of the audio and do not show the progress of the audio in connection with the notes that were taken are suboptimal.

Accordingly, there is a need for techniques that can more effectively present writing coupled with audio in an effective user interface.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention provide a system, method, and computer program product for capturing and displaying writing and audio using a smart pen device. A microphone on the smart pen device, or external microphones including binaural microphones worn by the user, records audio to produce audio data and a gesture capture system on the smart pen device records writing gestures to produce writing gesture data. Both the audio data and the writing gesture data include a time component. The audio data and writing gesture data are combined or synchronized according to their time components to create audio ink data. The audio ink data may be uploaded to a computer system attached to the smart pen device and displayed to a user through a user interface. The audio ink data may also be uploaded from a display device such as an e-ink screen overlaid with an Anoto dot pattern if the writing gesture data was captured by the device. The user makes a selection in the user interface to play the audio ink data, and the audio ink data is played back by animating the recorded writing gestures and playing the recorded audio in synchronization.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a pen-based computing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a smart pen for use in the pen-based computing system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example interface in the smart pen management software for playing back audio ink, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for capturing and displaying writing and audio, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview of Pen-Based Computing System

Embodiments of the invention may be implemented on various embodiments of a pen-based computing system, and other computing and/or recording systems. An embodiment of a pen-based computing system is illustrated inFIG. 1. In this embodiment, the pen-based computing system comprises awriting surface50, asmart pen100, adocking station110, aclient system120, anetwork130, and aweb services system140. Thesmart pen100 includes onboard processing capabilities as well as input/output functionalities, allowing the pen-based computing system to expand the screen-based interactions of traditional computing systems to other surfaces on which a user can write. For example, thesmart pen100 may be used to capture electronic representations of writing as well as record audio during the writing, and thesmart pen100 may also be capable of outputting visual and audio information back to the user. With appropriate software on thesmart pen100 for various applications, the pen-based computing system thus provides a new platform for users to interact with software programs and computing services in both the electronic and paper domains.

In the pen based computing system, thesmart pen100 provides input and output capabilities for the computing system and performs some or all of the computing functionalities of the system. Hence, thesmart pen100 enables user interaction with the pen-based computing system using multiple modalities. In one embodiment, thesmart pen100 receives input from a user, using multiple modalities, such as capturing a user's writing or other hand gesture or recording audio, and provides output to a user using various modalities, such as displaying visual information or playing audio. In other embodiments, thesmart pen100 includes additional input modalities, such as motion sensing or gesture capture, and/or additional output modalities, such as vibrational feedback.

The components of a particular embodiment of thesmart pen100 are shown inFIG. 2 and described in more detail in the accompanying text. Thesmart pen100 preferably has a form factor that is substantially shaped like a pen or other writing implement, although certain variations on the general shape may exist to accommodate other functions of the pen, or may even be an interactive multi-modal non-writing implement. For example, thesmart pen100 may be slightly thicker than a standard pen so that it can contain additional components, or thesmart pen100 may have additional structural features (e.g., a flat display screen) in addition to the structural features that form the pen shaped form factor. Additionally, thesmart pen100 may also include any mechanism by which a user can provide input or commands to the smart pen computing system or may include any mechanism by which a user can receive or otherwise observe information from the smart pen computing system.

Thesmart pen100 is designed to work in conjunction with thewriting surface50 so that thesmart pen100 can capture writing that is made on thewriting surface50. In one embodiment, thewriting surface50 comprises a sheet of paper (or any other suitable material that can be written upon) and is encoded with a pattern that can be read by thesmart pen100. An example of such awriting surface50 is the so-called “dot-enabled paper” available from Anoto Group AB of Sweden (local subsidiary Anoto, Inc. of Waltham, Mass.), and described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,175,095, incorporated by reference herein. This dot-enabled paper has a pattern of dots encoded on the paper. Asmart pen100 designed to work with this dot enabled paper includes an imaging system and a processor that can determine the position of the smart pen's writing tip with respect to the encoded dot pattern. This position of thesmart pen100 may be referred to using coordinates in a predefined “dot space,” and the coordinates can be either local (i.e., a location within a page of the writing surface50) or absolute (i.e., a unique location across multiple pages of the writing surface50).

In other embodiments, thewriting surface50 may be implemented using mechanisms other than encoded paper to allow thesmart pen100 to capture gestures and other written input. For example, the writing surface may comprise a tablet or other electronic medium that senses writing made by thesmart pen100. In another embodiment, thewriting surface50 comprises electronic paper, or e-paper. This sensing may be performed entirely by thewriting surface50 or in conjunction with thesmart pen100. Even if the role of thewriting surface50 is only passive (as in the case of encoded paper), it can be appreciated that the design of thesmart pen100 will typically depend on the type ofwriting surface50 for which the pen based computing system is designed. Moreover, written content may be displayed on thewriting surface50 mechanically (e.g., depositing ink on paper using the smart pen100), electronically (e.g., displayed on the writing surface50), or not at all (e.g., merely saved in a memory). In another embodiment, thesmart pen100 is equipped with sensors to sensor movement of the pen's tip, thereby sensing writing gestures without requiring awriting surface50 at all. Any of these technologies may be used in a gesture capture system incorporated in thesmart pen100.

In various embodiments, thesmart pen100 can communicate with a generalpurpose computing system120, such as a personal computer, for various useful applications of the pen based computing system. For example, content captured by thesmart pen100 may be transferred to thecomputing system120 for further use by thatsystem120. For example, thecomputing system120 may include management software that allows a user to store, access, review, delete, and otherwise manage the information acquired by thesmart pen100. Downloading acquired data from thesmart pen100 to thecomputing system120 also frees the resources of thesmart pen100 so that it can acquire more data. Conversely, content may also be transferred back onto thesmart pen100 from thecomputing system120. In addition to data, the content provided by thecomputing system120 to thesmart pen100 may include software applications that can be executed by thesmart pen100.

Thesmart pen100 may communicate with thecomputing system120 via any of a number of known communication mechanisms, including both wired and wireless communications. In one embodiment, the pen based computing system includes adocking station110 coupled to the computing system. Thedocking station110 is mechanically and electrically configured to receive thesmart pen100, and when thesmart pen100 is docked thedocking station110 may enable electronic communications between thecomputing system120 and thesmart pen100. Thedocking station110 may also provide electrical power to recharge a battery in thesmart pen100.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of thesmart pen100 for use in a pen based computing system, such as the embodiments described above. In the embodiment shown in FIG.2, thesmart pen100 comprises amarker205, animaging system210, a pen downsensor215, one ormore microphones220, aspeaker225, anaudio jack230, adisplay235, an I/O port240, aprocessor245, anonboard memory250, and abattery255. It should be understood, however, that not all of the above components are required for thesmart pen100, and this is not an exhaustive list of components for all embodiments of thesmart pen100 or of all possible variations of the above components. For example, thesmart pen100 may also include buttons, such as a power button or an audio recording button, and/or status indicator lights. Moreover, as used herein in the specification and in the claims, the term “smart pen” does not imply that the pen device has any particular feature or functionality described herein for a particular embodiment, other than those features expressly recited. A smart pen may have any combination of fewer than all of the capabilities and subsystems described herein.

Themarker205 enables the smart pen to be used as a traditional writing apparatus for writing on any suitable surface. Themarker205 may thus comprise any suitable marking mechanism, including any ink-based or graphite-based marking devices or any other devices that can be used for writing. In one embodiment, themarker205 comprises a replaceable ballpoint pen element. Themarker205 is coupled to a pen downsensor215, such as a pressure sensitive element. The pen downsensor215 thus produces an output when themarker205 is pressed against a surface, thereby indicating when thesmart pen100 is being used to write on a surface.

Theimaging system210 comprises sufficient optics and sensors for imaging an area of a surface near themarker205. Theimaging system210 may be used to capture handwriting and gestures made with thesmart pen100. For example, theimaging system210 may include an infrared light source that illuminates a writingsurface50 in the general vicinity of themarker205, where the writingsurface50 includes an encoded pattern. By processing the image of the encoded pattern, thesmart pen100 can determine where themarker205 is in relation to the writingsurface50. An imaging array of theimaging system210 then images the surface near themarker205 and captures a portion of a coded pattern in its field of view. Thus, theimaging system210 allows thesmart pen100 to receive data using at least one input modality, such as receiving written input. Theimaging system210 incorporating optics and electronics for viewing a portion of the writingsurface50 is just one type of gesture capture system that can be incorporated in thesmart pen100 for electronically capturing any writing gestures made using the pen, and other embodiments of thesmart pen100 may use any other appropriate means for achieve the same function.

In an embodiment, data captured by theimaging system210 is subsequently processed, allowing one or more content recognition algorithms, such as character recognition, to be applied to the received data. In another embodiment, theimaging system210 can be used to scan and capture written content that already exists on the writing surface50 (e.g., and not written using the smart pen100). Theimaging system210 may further be used in combination with the pen downsensor215 to determine when themarker205 is touching the writingsurface50. As themarker205 is moved over the surface, the pattern captured by the imaging array changes, and the user's handwriting can thus be determined and captured by a gesture capture system (e.g., theimaging system210 inFIG. 2) in thesmart pen100. This technique may also be used to capture gestures, such as when a user taps themarker205 on a particular location of the writingsurface50, allowing data capture using another input modality of motion sensing or gesture capture.

Another data capture device on thesmart pen100 are the one ormore microphones220, which allow thesmart pen100 to receive data using another input modality, audio capture. Themicrophones220 may be used for recording audio, which may be synchronized to the handwriting capture described above. In an embodiment, the one ormore microphones220 are coupled to signal processing software executed by theprocessor245, or by a signal processor (not shown), which removes noise created as themarker205 moves across a writing surface and/or noise created as thesmart pen100 touches down to or lifts away from the writing surface. In an embodiment, theprocessor245 synchronizes captured written data with captured audio data. For example, a conversation in a meeting may be recorded using themicrophones220 while a user is taking notes that are also being captured by thesmart pen100. Synchronizing recorded audio and captured handwriting allows thesmart pen100 to provide a coordinated response to a user request for previously captured data. For example, responsive to a user request, such as a written command, parameters for a command, a gesture with thesmart pen100, a spoken command or a combination of written and spoken commands, thesmart pen100 provides both audio output and visual output to the user. Thesmart pen100 may also provide haptic feedback to the user.

Thespeaker225,audio jack230, and display235 provide outputs to the user of thesmart pen100 allowing presentation of data to the user via one or more output modalities. Theaudio jack230 may be coupled to earphones so that a user may listen to the audio output without disturbing those around the user, unlike with aspeaker225. Earphones may also allow a user to hear the audio output in stereo or full three-dimensional audio that is enhanced with spatial characteristics. Hence, thespeaker225 andaudio jack230 allow a user to receive data from the smart pen using a first type of output modality by listening to audio played by thespeaker225 or theaudio jack230.

Thedisplay235 may comprise any suitable display system for providing visual feedback, such as an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, allowing thesmart pen100 to provide output using a second output modality by visually displaying information. In use, thesmart pen100 may use any of these output components to communicate audio or visual feedback, allowing data to be provided using multiple output modalities. For example, thespeaker225 andaudio jack230 may communicate audio feedback (e.g., prompts, commands, and system status) according to an application running on thesmart pen100, and thedisplay235 may display word phrases, static or dynamic images, or prompts as directed by such an application. In addition, thespeaker225 andaudio jack230 may also be used to play back audio data that has been recorded using themicrophones220.

The input/output (I/O)port240 allows communication between thesmart pen100 and acomputing system120, as described above. In one embodiment, the I/O port240 comprises electrical contacts that correspond to electrical contacts on thedocking station110, thus making an electrical connection for data transfer when thesmart pen100 is placed in thedocking station110. In another embodiment, the I/O port240 simply comprises a jack for receiving a data cable (e.g., Mini-USB or Micro-USB). Alternatively, the I/O port240 may be replaced by a wireless communication circuit in thesmart pen100 to allow wireless communication with the computing system120 (e.g., via Bluetooth, WiFi, infrared, or ultrasonic).

Aprocessor245,onboard memory250, and battery255 (or any other suitable power source) enable computing functionalities to be performed at least in part on thesmart pen100. Theprocessor245 is coupled to the input and output devices and other components described above, thereby enabling applications running on thesmart pen100 to use those components. In one embodiment, theprocessor245 comprises an ARM9 processor, and theonboard memory250 comprises a small amount of random access memory (RAM) and a larger amount of flash or other persistent memory. As a result, executable applications can be stored and executed on thesmart pen100, and recorded audio and handwriting can be stored on thesmart pen100, either indefinitely or until offloaded from thesmart pen100 to acomputing system120. For example, thesmart pen100 may locally stores one or more content recognition algorithms, such as character recognition or voice recognition, allowing thesmart pen100 to locally identify input from one or more input modality received by thesmart pen100.

In an embodiment, thesmart pen100 also includes an operating system or other software supporting one or more input modalities, such as handwriting capture, audio capture or gesture capture, or output modalities, such as audio playback or display of visual data. The operating system or other software may support a combination of input modalities and output modalities and manages the combination, sequencing and transitioning between input modalities (e.g., capturing written and/or spoken data as input) and output modalities (e.g., presenting audio or visual data as output to a user). For example, this transitioning between input modality and output modality allows a user to simultaneously write on paper or another surface while listening to audio played by thesmart pen100, or thesmart pen100 may capture audio spoken from the user while the user is also writing with thesmart pen100. Various other combinations of input modalities and output modalities are also possible.

In an embodiment, theprocessor245 andonboard memory250 include one or more executable applications supporting and enabling a menu structure and navigation through a file system or application menu, allowing launch of an application or of a functionality of an application. For example, navigation between menu items comprises a dialogue between the user and thesmart pen100 involving spoken and/or written commands and/or gestures by the user and audio and/or visual feedback from the smart pen computing system. Hence, thesmart pen100 may receive input to navigate the menu structure from a variety of modalities.

For example, a writing gesture, a spoken keyword, or a physical motion, may indicate that subsequent input is associated with one or more application commands. For example, a user may depress thesmart pen100 against a surface twice in rapid succession then write a word or phrase, such as “solve,” “send,” “translate,” “email,” “voice-email” or another predefined word or phrase to invoke a command associated with the written word or phrase or receive additional parameters associated with the command associated with the predefined word or phrase. This input may have spatial (e.g., dots side by side) and/or temporal components (e.g., one dot after the other). Because these “quick-launch” commands can be provided in different formats, navigation of a menu or launching of an application is simplified. The “quick-launch” command or commands are preferably easily distinguishable during conventional writing and/or speech.

Alternatively, thesmart pen100 also includes a physical controller, such as a small joystick, a slide control, a rocker panel, a capacitive (or other non-mechanical) surface or other input mechanism which receives input for navigating a menu of applications or application commands executed by thesmart pen100.

Audio Ink

Embodiments of the invention provide an interface for reviewing notes coupled with recorded audio, herein referred to as “audio ink.” To create the audio ink, writing and audio are captured and synchronized according to how they were originally presented, using any of a variety of techniques. A page of notes taken on awriting surface50 using asmart pen100 may contain both audio ink and non-audio ink, where non-audio ink is simply writing with no associated audio content. A user interface according to various embodiments of the invention can be used to view the captured audio and non-audio ink electronically. In one embodiment, the user interface is provided by thecomputing system120. The interface includes a display for showing the audio and non-audio ink as well as controls for playing the audio associated with the audio ink.

In an example use of the interface, a user opens a page of notes that contains both audio and non-audio ink. The interface initially shows the non-audio ink on the page as static writing. In one embodiment, the interface also shows the audio ink, presented in a first color (e.g., light blue). When the user selects the play function from the controls in the interface, the interface begins to play the recorded audio associated with the audio ink. The interface also changes the color of the audio ink to a second color (e.g., dark blue) as the audio content is played, where the change of color of the audio ink coincides with the writing that was captured when the audio was initially recorded. In this way, the interface shows all of the notes, and also effectively conveys what was being written when the notes were taken, providing extremely useful context information about the notes. In an alternative embodiment, the audio ink is not displayed at all until the audio associated therewith is played back, thereby recreating the actual note taking experience.

The basic features of an embodiment of the interface for playing back audio ink, as well as various alternatives and other features, are described in more detail below.

Content of the Notes

As mentioned above, a page of notes may include both audio ink and non-audio ink, either of which can be captured, e.g., by asmart pen100. The non-audio ink may merely comprise static writing or drawing, which may be captured by any means appropriate for the given application. Audio ink, in contrast, includes a time component, which allows for synchronization with recorded audio. The audio can be recorded using themicrophone220 of the smart pen while notes are being taken with themarker205 of the smart pen. In one embodiment, the audio ink comprises a series of writing samples in time (e.g., using x, y, t coordinates) that is paired with an associated audio, which is linked to the writing samples in time. However, other data formats are possible for the audio ink.

Viewing and Controlling Playback of the Animation

However obtained, a page of notes including audio ink may be viewed in a desktop environment on acomputing system120 such as a personal computer, a cellular phone, a PDA, or any other device having an ability to display notes and play back associated audio. In a desktop environment, a page of notes including audio ink may be viewed using smart pen management software including a viewer application.FIG. 3 illustrates anexample interface300 in the smart pen management software for playing back audio ink, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

As illustrated in theFIG. 3, a user may navigate a number ofpages306 of notes in anavigation pane302. Somepages306 may include audio ink that can be played back using theinterface300. Such apage306 of notes with audio ink enables a “paper replay session,” in which at least a portion of the writing on thepage306 can be animated in connection with an audio recording. A user may click on apage306 with audio ink to open a paper replay session.

Themain viewing window308 in theexample interface300 includes a reproduction of the notes, below which is presented acontrol bar310. Thecontrol bar310 may include a number of audio controls for controlling the playback of the audio ink.Button312 toggles between play and pause of the audio ink playback. For example,buttons314 and316 rewind and fast forward the digital ink playback.Buttons318 and320 move to the previous and the next bookmarks, where a bookmark is a location previously defined by the user.Indicator322 gives the position of the current audio ink playback.Display324 gives the elapsed and total time of the current audio ink playback.Button326 activates the animation of the audio ink (e.g., controls whether the color of the ink changes during playback). It can be appreciated that these are example of a set of controls, and various other controls may be used in other embodiments.

Initially, before playback of any audio ink, the viewer application shows thenon-audio ink328. In this example, the non-audio ink is the math equations and does not include the notes written between the lines of math equations inside “clouds” on the page. In one embodiment, these notes are theaudio ink330 and are illustrated in a different color than the non-audio ink, thereby indicating the availability of audio connected to the writing. InFIG. 3, thenon-audio ink328 is illustrated in a lighter shade than theaudio ink330. A user may use theaudio control bar310 to initiate playback of the audio connected to the audio ink. The user can also select a particular segment of theaudio ink330, for example by clicking on it with an input pointing device of thecomputing system120, to initiate playback of the audio connected to the audio ink. In one embodiment, a user can skip to a particular location in time corresponding to a segment of the audio ink by selecting that segment. In this way, a user need not be tied to a linear playback of the note taking session.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for capturing and displaying writing and audio, according to one embodiment. Asmart pen100captures402 writing using animaging system210 and captures404 audio using amicrophone220. Both the writing and the audio include a time component. The audio is associated406 with the writing to generate audio ink. The audio ink is uploaded408 to a viewer, such as anexternal computing system120 for later playback. Auser interface300 on thecomputing system120 receives410 digital notes including the audio ink generated on the smart pen. A user of theuser interface300 issues a command to navigate412 to a time location within the audio ink. Theuser interface300 then plays414 back the audio ink starting at the time location.

Additional Features for Playback of Audio Ink

Other features of message creation that are possible within the scope of various embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following.

In one embodiment, the smart pen management software includes a feature that allows for the searching of audio that is attached to the notes. In one implementation, the user may input a search term, such as a word or phrase, by typing and/or speaking the search term. The software then uses an audio search engine (which are known in the art) to match the search term against the audio content associated with the notes. The software may then present the user with a list of results, which are indexed to the audio ink. In this way, a user can search for notes based on just on the content of the notes, but also on what was being said when the notes where taken. In another implementation, the audio content is already transcribed (or transcribed on the fly), using an automated system or manually, and the a textual search term is simply matched against the transcription. If the transcription is indexed in time or otherwise matched to the notes, the software may similarly allow the user to search for notes based on the audio content associated therewith.

In one embodiment, the color of theaudio ink330 changes as the audio associated with it is played. For example, the color of the audio ink may turn from a light blue to a dark blue. This allows the user to see all of the notes, but it also provides the user with the valuable contextual information about what notes were being taken when the audio was initially heard by the note taker. This can be especially useful when a user adds notes on the page in a non-linear way. For example, after the full page of notes was taken, the lecturer may have made an observation about the first line of notes, causing the note taker to write the comment: “Look! Same Base!” Without the synchronization of the audio with the animated ink, a viewer may lose his or her place and not realize that the audio was meant to refer to the first line of equations. But with the animated audio ink, the user can readily see that the note taker added the note with a given portion of audio. In this way, the understanding of the note taker is better imparted to the subsequent viewer of the notes. In one embodiment, different colors are assigned to audio ink corresponding to audio from different speakers. This assignment is made manually while notes are being taken, manually after the notes have been taken, or automatically using voice analysis software, for example.

In one embodiment, however the audio file is navigated, the appearance of the ink immediately “catches up” to the current playback position of the audio. Audio navigation options may include, for example, (1) jump forward five seconds (or some other interval); (2) jump backwards five seconds (or some other interval); (3) jump to next bookmark (where a bookmark is a location previously marked by a user); (4) jump to previous bookmark; and (5) jump to any relative position within the entire recording session (which may be invoked via theindicator bar322, where the user taps anywhere in the bar to jump, e.g., tapping in the middle of the bar jumps to the middle of the audio session, which would be minute 12:15 in a session that is 24:30 long in total, or would be minute 2:05 in a session that is 4:10 long in total, or tapping at other points along the bar similarly jumps to that same relative percentage of completion of the audio file).

In one embodiment, when the user navigates the audio in any of these ways, the appearance of the ink may change to match the new playback position of the audio. For example, if the user starts an audio file that is one hour in duration, and listens to the first 30 seconds, probably only a small amount of theaudio ink330 on the page will have changed color because only a small amount of the total ink was written within the first 30 seconds of the recording. If the user then taps the position bar close to the right edge, at a position representing 95% of the total session, the audio playback will jump to very late in the audio file, and suddenly most of the ink on the page will change color because the page has been updated to represent the point in time close to the end of the recording session.

In one embodiment, during a single recording session, notes may be made on multiple pages, or even on a variety of paper types (e.g., notebook pages, sticky notes, index cards, and loose leaf pages). In the example shown in the figure, thumbnails of all thepages306 associated with the current audio session are displayed in thenavigation pane302. Clicking on any of the thumbnails will cause that page to be displayed at full size in themain viewing window308. An icon304 appears next to one of the thumbnails to indicate the page that contains the ink associated with the most recent index into the audio. This helps the viewer to keep track of the current point in the ongoing animation. If the user clicks on the thumbnail that bears the icon, they will be able to see the page where ink is currently animating. A setting may be included in the application that allows the user to decide whether the page displayed in the main viewing area should automatically switch to the page containing the current or most-recent index point for the audio currently playing. If the display is not set to automatically update, this icon may be helpful in allowing the user to find the place in their notes that is most relevant to the audio being played.

In one embodiment, while ink (i.e., written content) can be added to the page while the recording is being made, as described above,audio ink330 can also be added during playback of the audio file. Ink added at this time is also indexed to a point in the audio file. In this case, rather than being indexed to the present moment in time, it is indexed to the moment represented by the current playback position of the audio file. For example, if a lecture is recorded on Wednesday from 2 pm to 3 pm, and a student makes a mark on the page at 2:15 pm, when a user later taps on that mark on the page, the audio jumps to what was being recorded at 2:15 pm on Wednesday. On Friday, the student then reviews the notes and taps on a mark on the page. The lecture continues to play back. At 10:00 am on Friday, the student is listening to the part of the lecture that occurred at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, and makes a note on the page. (The note can actually be made on any dot-enabled page; it can be but does not need to be on thesame writing surface50 on which the notes were originally written.) This note, even though it was written at 10 am on Friday, is indexed to the recorded audio from 2:30 pm on Wednesday. When the user later goes back and taps that mark on the page, the audio begins playing back from the point of the lecture that occurred at 2:30 pm on Wednesday. In this way, any number of index points can be added after-the-fact. In an extreme case, a hundred different pages could contain ink that is indexed to a five-minute span of an audio recording. This greatly increases the non-linear possibilities of the notes.

In one embodiment, ink animation occurs at the time, and in the order, of the point in the audio file to which the ink is indexed. Therefore,audio ink330 written at very different times may animate consecutively if they are indexed to proximal points within the audio recording. In some cases, two different areas of ink may in fact animate at the same time, if both areas were written during the playback of the same point in the audio recording.Audio ink330 that is added to the page subsequent to the recording may be selectively displayed by the user. For example, an option may be provided ininterface300 for displaying or hiding subsequently added audio ink. The option may also allow subsequently added audio ink to be displayed in a different color than audio ink added during the initial recording.

In another embodiment, the system includes the ability to addaudio ink330 that is indexed to the recording, not just while the audio is playing back, but also while playback is paused. This feature allows a series of ink marks to be indexed to a single point in time within the audio recording. When ink marks are added during the recording or playback process, the resulting animation shows a smooth addition of ink as the audio playback proceeds. But if ink marks are added during paused audio, then the resulting animation will show a sudden addition of a quantity of ink marks all at the same time. For example, instead of an animation that shows ink appearing on the screen at the normal speed of writing, an entire paragraph of writing, or a drawing of a chart or graphic, might suddenly appear on the page.

In one embodiment, thesmart pen100 includes a control mechanism to allow a user to erase written content that has been captured by the device. This control to erase may be defined by the user (e.g., by drawing a “delete” button and assigning that functionality thereto), predefined as a menu item accessible by the device, or invoked via some other means. In one implementation, after a user has been writing with the smart pen, the user invokes the erase functionality and then defines the region of written content to be erased (e.g., by tapping opposite corners of an erase box, circling the content to be deleted, or via some other input). The smart pen then deletes the selected written content from itsmemory250 or otherwise marks it not to be included with the captured content, e.g., when the smart pen is docked.

Summary

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of the invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are commonly used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits, microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, without loss of generality. The described operations and their associated modules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or any combinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules, alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, a software module is implemented with a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code, which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or all of the steps, operations, or processes described.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise a general-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a tangible computer readable storage medium, which include any type of tangible media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, where the computer data signal includes any embodiment of a computer program product or other data combination described herein. The computer data signal is a product that is presented in a tangible medium or carrier wave and modulated or otherwise encoded in the carrier wave, which is tangible, and transmitted according to any suitable transmission method.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

Claims (19)

1. A pen-based computing system for capturing and displaying writing and audio, the system comprising:

a smart pen device comprising:

a microphone configured to record audio and produce audio data based thereon, the audio data including a time component,

a gesture capture system configured to capture writing gestures and produce writing gesture data based thereon, the writing gesture data including a capture timing relative to a time component;

a processor,

a storage medium,

instructions contained on the storage medium and capable of being executed by the processor, the instructions for combining the audio data and the writing gesture data according to the time components thereof to generate audio ink data, and

an interface for uploading the audio ink data to a computer system; and

a computer program product for playing back the audio ink data on the computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium containing computer program code for:

receiving a selection to play the audio ink data in a user interface of the computing system;

displaying the captured writing gesture data in a first color; and

playing back the audio ink data by animating the captured writing gestures over time and playing the recorded audio in synchronization with the animating of the captured writing gestures, the animating comprising changing the writing gesture data from the first color to a second color using a playback timing that corresponds to the capture timing of the writing gestures when originally captured, wherein the writing gestures captured prior to a current playback time are displayed in the second color and writing gestures captured after the current playback time are displayed in the first color.

2. The pen-based computing system ofclaim 1, wherein the selection further comprises a selection of a segment of displayed writing gesture data corresponding to the audio ink data.

3. The pen-based computing system ofclaim 1, wherein the writing gesture data is stored on the storage medium of the smart pen device.

4. The pen-based computing system ofclaim 1, wherein the selection further comprises a selection of a particular time in the recorded audio.

5. The pen-based computing system ofclaim 1, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises computer program code for:

pausing playback of the audio ink data at a particular time in the recorded audio;

receiving additional writing gestures; and

inserting the additional writing gestures into the audio ink data, the additional writing gestures corresponding to the particular time in the recorded audio.

6. A computer program product for displaying writing and playing audio recorded using a smart pen, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing computer program code for:

receiving audio ink data from a smart pen, the audio ink data comprising audio recorded by the smart pen and writing gestures captured by the smart pen according to a capture timing, the writing gestures and audio synchronized in time;

receiving a selection to play the audio ink data in a user interface of a computing system;

displaying the captured writing gesture data in a first color; and

playing back the audio ink data by animating the captured writing gestures over time and playing the recorded audio in synchronization with the animating of the captured writing gestures, the animating comprising changing the writing gesture data from the first color to a second color using a playback timing that corresponds to the capture timing of the writing gestures when originally captured, wherein the writing gestures captured prior to a current playback time are displayed in the second color and writing gestures captured after the current playback time are displayed in the first color.

7. The computer program product ofclaim 6, wherein the selection further comprises a selection of a segment of displayed writing gesture data corresponding to the audio ink data.

8. The computer program product ofclaim 6, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises computer program code for:

receiving non-audio ink data from the smart pen, the non-audio ink data comprising writing gestures captured by the smart pen, the writing gestures not synchronized with the audio recorded by the smart pen; and

displaying the writing gestures of the non-audio ink data on a page containing the writing gestures of the audio ink data.

9. The computer program product ofclaim 6, wherein the selection further comprises a selection of a particular time in the recorded audio.

10. The computer program product ofclaim 9, wherein playing back the audio ink data further comprises navigating to the particular time within the audio ink and animating the captured writing gestures starting at the particular time.

11. The computer program product ofclaim 6, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises computer program code for:

receiving a search term;

searching the recorded audio for the search term; and

playing back a portion of the recorded audio containing the search term and animating the captured writing gestures corresponding to the portion of the recorded audio.

12. The computer program product ofclaim 6, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises computer program code for:

pausing playback of the audio ink data at a particular time in the recorded audio;

receiving additional writing gestures; and

inserting the additional writing gestures into the audio ink data, the additional writing gestures corresponding to the particular time in the recorded audio.

13. The computer program product ofclaim 12, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises computer program code for:

receiving a selection for displaying the additional writing gestures in a different color or for hiding the additional writing gestures.

14. The computer program product ofclaim 6, wherein animating the captured writing gestures and playing the recorded audio in synchronization further comprises:

displaying a portion of the writing gestures in a speaker color, the speaker color based on an identity of a speaker of a portion of the recorded audio corresponding to the portion of the writing gestures.

15. A method for displaying writing and audio recorded using a smart pen comprising:

receiving audio ink data from a smart pen, the audio ink data comprising audio recorded by the smart pen and writing gestures captured by the smart pen according to a capture timing, the writing gestures and audio synchronized in time;

displaying a paper replay interface for controlling playback of the audio ink;

displaying the captured writing gesture data in a first color;

receiving a selection of a play button in the paper replay interface; and

playing back the audio ink data by animating the captured writing gestures over time and playing the recorded audio in synchronization with the animating of the captured writing gestures, the animating comprising changing the writing gesture data from the first color to a second color using a playback timing that corresponds to the capture timing of the writing gestures when originally captured, wherein the writing gestures captured prior to a current playback time are displayed in the second color and writing gestures captured after the current playback time are displayed in the first color.

16. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising:

receiving non-audio ink data from the smart pen, the non-audio ink data comprising writing gestures captured by the smart pen not synchronized with the audio;

displaying a representation of the non-audio ink data in the paper replay interface before playback of the audio ink data, wherein the representation comprises a third color different than the first and second colors.

17. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising:

displaying a previous bookmark button in the paper replay interface, wherein selection of the previous bookmark button jumps the playback of the audio ink to a prior time location previously defined by a user; and

displaying a next bookmark button in the paper replay interface, wherein selection of the next bookmark button jumps the playback of the audio ink to a subsequent time location previously defined by the user.

18. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a particular segment of the audio ink data using a pointing device; and

automatically skipping playback of the audio ink to a location in time corresponding to the selected segment of the audio ink data.

19. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising:

receiving selection of a time location in the audio ink; and

displaying the writing gesture data captured prior to the time location in the second color, and displaying the writing gesture data captured after the time location in the first color.

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